The DAn Luss Lectures
Dinner | Lectures | Speaker Bios
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Dan Luss, Ph.D., Cullen Professor of Engineering at the University of Houston Cullen College of Engineering, has contributed significantly to education, research and professional organizations throughout his nearly forty-year career in higher education.
After receiving B.S. and M.S. degrees in chemical engineering from Technion in Israel in the early 1960s, Luss received a Ph.D. from the University of Minnesota in 1966. He accepted an assistant professor position at his alma mater before relocating to Houston as an assistant professor in the chemical engineering department at the UH Cullen College of Engineering in 1967. Within five years, he was promoted to full professor, the beginning of a remarkable tenure distinguished by his leadership of the department twice, from 1975-1995 and from 1999-2000, as chair. While leading the department, he laid the foundation for one of the best chemical engineering programs in the nation.
Nearly forty years of research garnered Luss over $6.7 million in funding, either as the principal investigator or on joint research endeavors. His research focuses on the dynamic features of chemically reacting systems, hot spots formation in packed-bed reactors, production of synthesis gas in membrane reactors and electrical and magnetic field formation during high temperature solid reactions.
A member of the National Academy of Engineering, Luss has received numerous awards for his contributions to the field of chemical engineering, including the American Institute of Chemical Engineers (AIChE) Founders Award, the Wilhelm Award, the Professional Progress Award, the Allan P. Colburn Award and has been an AIChE fellow.
Dinner
Honoring Professor Dan Luss
Thursday, January 29, 2009
6:15 p.m. reception
7:15 p.m. dinner
JW Marriott Houston
5150 Westheimer
Houston, TX 77056
To RSVP, contact Linda Keng at lkeng@uh.edu or 713-743-4304.
Please email dietary restrictions to Ms. Keng.
Friday, January 30, 2009
University of Houston Hilton
Breakfast — 8:00 a.m.
Michael Ramage, Ph.D. — 8:30 a.m.
Theodore T. Tsotsis, Ph.D. — 10:00 a.m.
Michael Economides, Ph.D. — 11:00 a.m.
Michael Ramage, Ph.D.
Retired, Executive Vice President
ExxonMobil Research and Engineering Company
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Michael P. Ramage, Ph.D. is retired from ExxonMobil Research and Engineering Company, where he served as executive vice president. Previously, he served as executive vice president, chief technology officer, and director of Mobil Oil Corporation. He has served as a member of the Government University Industrial Research Roundtable and as director of the American Institute of Chemical Engineers. He is a member of the Energy Advisory Board at Purdue University, the U.S. Secretary of Energy’s Hydrogen Technical Advisory Council and the National Academy of Engineering. He has B.S., M.S., Ph.D., and HDR degrees in chemical engineering from Purdue University.
Lecture Address
Transitions to Alternative Transportation Technologies
Abstract
In response to a congressional request in the Energy Policy Act of 2005, this National Research Council (NRC) study estimated the maximum practicable number of hydrogen fuel cell vehicles (HFCVs) that could be deployed in the United States by 2020 and beyond, together with the investments, time and government actions needed to carry out this transition. The study determined the consequent reductions in U.S. oil consumption and emissions of carbon dioxide (CO2)—the main greenhouse gas linked to global climate change—that could be expected. It then compared those reductions with the potential impact that the use of alternative vehicle technologies and biofuels might have on oil consumption and CO2 emissions.
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Theodore T. Tsotsis, Ph.D.
Robert E. Vivian Professor of Energy Resources and Chair
Mork Family Department of Chemical Engineering and Materials Science
Viterbi School of Engineering, University of Southern California
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Theodore T. Tsotsis, Ph.D. is the Robert E. Vivian Professor in Energy Resources and chair of the Mork Family Department of Chemical Engineering and Materials Science at University of Southern California. His research interests include reaction engineering, membrane separations, reactor design and the modeling of transport in complex porous media. He is the author of over 180 technical papers, several book chapters, five U.S. and one European patent and one book. Professor Tsotsis is the co-founder and a member of the executive board of USC’s NSF/IGERT Center in Environmental Engineering. He received a Ph.D. in chemical engineering from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign in 1978.
Lecture Address “
Microporous Membranes for Conventional and Reactive Separations
Abstract
Microporous inorganic membranes are attracting substantial research interest due to their potential for finding widespread use in a number of high-temperature conventional and reactive separation applications of interest in the energy field. In our group, the emphasis has been on carbon molecular sieve and SiC membranes. The preparation and characterization of these materials presents significant technical challenges. Issues of membrane preparation, reproducibility and robustness to the proposed application environments remain of significant importance. In this talk, we will describe the techniques that we utilize in the group for the preparation and characterization of such microporous membranes. They involve a variety of surface analytical techniques, TGA and various chromatographic and mass spectrometric techniques useful for characterizing the membrane structure, and its surface and bulk chemical composition.
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Michael J. Economides, Ph.D.
Professor, Department of Chemical & Biomolecular Engineering, University of Houston
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Michael J. Economides is a professor at the University of Houston Cullen College of Engineering and the managing partner of a petroleum engineering and petroleum strategy consulting firm. His interests include petroleum production and management, a particular emphasis on natural gas, natural gas transportation, LNG, CNG and processing, advances in process design of very complex operations, economics and geopolitics. He is also the editor-in-chief of the Energy Tribune. He has authored or co-authored 14 professional textbooks and books, including “The Color Of Oil” and over 200 journal papers and articles.
Lecture Address
Energy Geopolitics
Abstract
Oil prices have climbed to $100 per barrel and are expected to remain quite high for the foreseeable future. While the calculated (by us) equilibrium price of oil should hover around $50, geopolitical headlines rule the price and the world is constantly one headline away from far larger than $100 oil. Contrary to common misconception, this has little to do with “peak oil,” which is decades away. Energy militant nations such as Iran, Venezuela and, increasingly, Russia under the current regime, hold a considerable sway over the energy trade. One obvious bright spot for the future is that energy consumption patterns are bound to change, unifying energy resources, which today are highly fragmented and “cantonized.” An essential element is the expected wide use of electricity in transportation as the only obvious long-term solution. Distorting the energy picture is the entire rhetoric of global climate change, its presumed anthropogenic cause, and the proposed solutions, collectively add to energy costs and energy availability.